Gotcha Day

Today marks the 2nd anniversary of our gotcha day! It's hard to believe we've had our precious daughter for 2 years, yet is seems like it has been forever. We are so lucky to have her in our lives and it's amazing what a lovely young lady she is becoming.

I remember the time we had like it was yesterday. A friend who is going to China soon to get her second daughter from the same province we were in asked me to give her some insight as to our experience. It was amazing how vivid my memory was after 2 years!

Today I took a half day off work and Barbara and I surprised Maggie at school with a balloon bouquet featuring Dora! We went to lunch and to Maggie's gymnastics class. This evening we watched our video from our time in China and we were all touched!

Chinese New Year

We went to 2 Chinese New Year celebrations the past 2 weekends. The Creative Discovery Museum presented a Lion Dance and martial arts exhibition and then last Saturday we had the local FCC (Families with children from China) party. We had so much fun at each one. We have tickets to see the circus next month and will be going to see the play "Annie" next weekend. We continue to stay busy and are doing very well. Maggie is signed up for soccer for the Spring as well so it looks like our busy weekends will stay that way.

Maggie jumping rope

Snowman

We got several inches of snow on Friday, the first measurable amount I've seen since moving to Chattanooga almost 10 years ago. We made Maggie's first snowman and she enjoyed playing outside. The bad part about the snow was that the Chinese New Year party scheduled for Saturday was rescheduled for 2/13/10.

Earlier this month, one of Barbara's co-worker's gave Maggie a battery powered Barbie Jeep. We did have one nice day and she was able to ride it outside. Barbara is picking Rachel up from school again this Spring so she played with her.

We can't wait until Spring gets here to played outside more often! We are already trying to plan Maggie's birthday party, which isn't until August! Time sure does fly...

update

Well things have settled down in our household after the holidays and we are stuck in a cold spell (hopefully it will break this week). We had a relaxing weekend staying home all day on Saturday and then having a nice lunch with Savina Rose and her parents after Church on Sunday.

Last Monday evening there was a fire at Barbara's mom and aunt's duplex. Luckily it was contained to the carport and pool house and nobody was injured. However, they have been without power until recently and still don't have any water. They remain at a local hotel and things have been hectic for them. Both of their cars suffered damage from the fire and her mother's was totaled (no word on Auntie's car). They have spent some time with us during the week and I think being around Maggie has really helped lift their spirits.

My mom will be back down this weekend and then we have our Chinese New Year's celebration the last Saturday of January. Although I don't have any pictures to share right now, I'm sure I will have some at that time.

We did have some snow last Thursday, but just enough to make driving hectic. Maggie's school was closed on Friday due to the weather but she went back today. She continues to go to gymnastics twice a week and loves it (she got a balance beam mat for Christmas). She will probably play soccer again in the Spring and we will get her involved in more activities as the seasons pass. She loves to dance so I think a dance class will be good for her. Last week she was hitting a balloon with a wii type tennis racket and we think that tennis lessons could be a possibility in the near future. She LOVED it!

Happy New Year!!

We wish everyone a Happy New Year!! My dad and stepmom visited from Florida and celebrated with us. We went to P.F. Chang's for dinner and all the girls were asleep way before midnight. On New Year's Day, Barbara's mom and aunt came over and we had a wonderful meal and just stayed at home. We went to Knoxville on Saturday to see my sister and her family and my dad left yesterday. Today Barbara and I both went back to work and Maggie's school starts back on Wednesday. It's verrrrrrry verrrrrrry cold here and we may have some snow towards the end of the week.

Merry Christmas!!!!

It's been quite busy around here so haven't posted much lately. First of all, I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! Ours was great. Last year Maggie didn't really grasp everything about Christmas - this year she did. When asked what Christmas is all about, she will tell you that it is Jesus' birthday. She asked Santa for a spiderman bicycle, a Dora backpack, and a Strawberry Shortcake computer. Of course Santa brought her everything she wanted, and then some. She has been soooooooooo good this year so she deserves everything she received. I wish it were a little warmer so she can ride her bike more, but it will be warmer before we know it.

As I've mentioned, we've been pretty busy. Maggie had a Christmas program at her preschool, had Christmas parties both at school and at gymnastics, and participated in the Christmas program Barbara's Sunday school put on. She also made Christmas cookies - on two seperate occasions. Additionally, Barbara and Maggie went to see the Nutcracker as part of a field trip with her preschool. We took Maggie to the Creative Discovery Museum a few weeks ago to make her own Gingerbread house with Savina Rose and her parents. We had Mia and her parents over for dinner last weekend. We had my mom, Barbara's mom, Barbara's aunt and Barbara's cousin and family over for Christmas eve. My mom and Barbara's mom and aunt spent the night and were here when Maggie woke up and opened her presents. It was very sweet.

This week I only work on Monday and we are excited that my dad and stepmom will be here to celebrate the New Year. We all love having friends and family around.

Thanks to everyone for the great Christmas cards, wishes, phone calls, etc. We are so lucky to have such great friends and family in our lives and we count our blessings every day.

I've learned that it is so much easier to add pictures on facebook. Because of this, I'm usually posting things faster on there.